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几乎每个父母都希望自己的孩子成才。 培养孩子成才的理论可以说是百家争鸣百花齐放。美国的教育心理学家，内布拉斯加大学林肯分校的教授Kenneth Kiewra先生提出了培养孩子成才的五种方法。OACCUA征得教授的同意，首家翻译了他的这篇新作 - 5 ways to develop children’s talents。 5 Ways to Develop Children’s Talents Some people think talent is born. The often-told story of Mozart playing piano at 3 and composing at 5 reinforces such beliefs. 有些人认为天分是天生的，那些老生常谈的莫扎特三岁弹钢琴，五岁作曲的故事加深了这种信念。 But here’s the rest of that story: Mozart’s father was a successful musician, composer and instructor. He was devoted to teaching Mozart and helping him practice hard and achieve perfection. 但故事后面鲜为人知的事实是：莫扎特的父亲是一位很成功的音乐人，作曲家和教师。他不遗余力地教授莫扎特，帮助他刻苦练习以臻完美。 Despite all this, Mozart did not produce his first masterwork until his early 20s – after about 15 years of arduous practice and top-notch instruction. 尽管如此，经过大约15年的艰苦的磨砺和卓越的教导，直到莫扎特 20出头，他才完成了他的第一部巨作。 Talent, I argue, is not born, it’s made – and parents can make a big difference. 因此我有理由说，天分，不是天生的，它是创造出来的-而父母是成败的关键。 Conditions for success 成功的条件 Although some might believe that talent is rare, psychologist Benjamin Bloom said otherwise after he investigated top performers in six talent domains: “What any person in the world can learn, almost all persons can learn if provided with the appropriate conditions of learning.” 虽然有些人相信天分是罕见的，Benjamin Bloom 在研究了六大领域的优秀人才之后得出相反的结论：“提供适宜的学习条件，世界上任何人能学到的， 几乎所有的人都能学到”。 Those appropriate conditions include five things: an early start, expert instruction, deliberate practice, a center of excellence, and singleness of purpose. 这些适宜的条件包括五个因素：早期开始，师出有门，精心练习， 英才中心，目标专一。 Children can’t ignite and stoke these talent factors on their own. Instead, as I argue in my 2019 book, “Nurturing Children’s Talents: A Guide for Parents,” children need a talent manager, most often a parent, to nurture talent growth. I make this case as an educational psychologist who specializes in learning and talent development. 儿童不能自己激发和鼓励这些天分因素。 正如我在2019年出版的“培养儿童天分：父母指南”一书中指出的，孩子需要一个天才经纪来培养天分， 而这个经纪往往是儿童的父母。我把这个作为我这个专门研究学习与天才培养的教育心理学家的一个案例。 Let’s take a closer look at these talent factors and parents’ influence. 让我们来深入了解这些天才因素和父母的影响。 1. Early start 早期开始 The seeds of talent are usually planted early and in the home. One study revealed that 22 of 24 talented performers – from chess players to figure skaters – were introduced to their talent domains by parents, usually between ages 2 and 5. 天才的种子往往是在早期并且是在家里种下的。有一个课题组研究了24个从国际象棋到花样滑冰的天才选手，发现其中22个是由他们父母在他们2-5岁的时候引导入门的。 Many phenoms get an early start, research shows. 研究表明，很多名人是从早期就开始培养的。 Some of those parents were elite performers or coaches themselves. One was national championship volleyball coach John Cook, who raised All-American volleyball star Lauren Cook. 这些父母中的一部分本身也是精英选手或教练。比如国家排球锦标赛教练John Cook, 他培养了全美排球明星Lauren Cook。 “I think my daughter had an advantage because of my job,” coach Cook said. “She grew up around volleyball. When she was a little kid, we set up a mini court in the basement and would play volleyball on our knees.” “我认为我女儿的成就得益于我的工作。”Cook教练说：“她是围绕着排球长大的。当她还是小小孩的时候，我们在地下室建了一个迷你排球场，她会在我们膝盖上玩球。” Some parents were not linked to the child’s eventual talent area but provided a nurturing early environment that sparked a talent interest. Such was the case for Adora Svitak, an accomplished child writer and presenter. 有些父母与孩子最终的人才领域没有关联，但提供了激发人才兴趣的早期培育环境。 卓有成就的儿童作家和演讲家Adora Svitak就是这种情况。 Adora published two books by age 11 and made hundreds of international presentations, including a TED Talk viewed by millions. Adora’s parents, John and Joyce, were not writers or presenters, but they set the stage for Adora’s accomplishments. As her mother describes, they read “interesting and fascinating” books to her for more than an hour each night. “Reading really helped shape Adora’s love for learning and reading,” she said. Adora在11岁时出版了两本书，并作了数百场国际演讲，其中包括被数百万观众观赏的TED演讲。Adora的父母John和Joyce不是作家或演讲家 ，但他们为Adora的成就奠定了基础。 正如她母亲所描述的那样，他们每晚都会给她读一个多小时“有趣而迷人”的书。她说：“阅读确实帮助塑造了Adora对学习和阅读的热爱。” In addition, they encouraged Adora’s early writing, offered guidance, helped her publish her books and arranged speaking engagements. Joyce eventually quit her job to manage Adora’s career. She said, “It is a full-time job, and it can be hard. But, I don’t just manage somebody; I manage my daughter.” 此外，他们鼓励Adora的早期写作，并提供指导，帮助她出版书籍和安排演讲活动。 后来Joyce慢慢放弃了自己的工作来管理Adora的职业生涯。 她说：“这是一份很艰巨的全职工作，我不只是管理某个人; 我是管理我的女儿。“ 2。Expert instruction 师出有门 Parents go to great lengths to provide or arrange expert instruction. Chess grandmaster Kayden Troff learned how to play chess at age 3 while observing his father, Dan, and older siblings play. 家长们竭尽全力提供或安排专家指导。 国际象棋大师Kayden Troff 通过观看他的父亲Dan和年长的兄弟姐妹对弈，在3岁时学会了如何下棋。 With few chess resources near their Utah home, Dan assumed chess-coaching duties. To do so, Dan studied chess 10 to 15 hours a week during lunch breaks and after hours. 由于他在犹他州的家附近国际象棋资源有限，他父亲Dan主动担任起教练一职。为此，Dan利用午休和下班后的空余时间每周学习10到15个小时国际象棋。 He read books, watched videos, and studied grandmaster games that allowed him to create a book with specialized lessons to instruct Kayden during nightly training sessions. Eventually, when Dan could no longer keep pace with Kayden’s growth, he arranged for Kayden to take lessons from grandmasters via the internet. Dan读书，观看视频，并研究大师级比赛，最后写了一本为Kayden量身定做的书，在每晚的课程中指导他。 最后当Dan无法跟上Kayden的成长时，他安排Kayden通过互联网从大师那里学习。 To pay for lessons costing US$300 a month, Dan, a banker, and his wife worked extra jobs as custodians and spent 400 hours organizing an annual chess camp. 为了支付每月300美元的课程，作为银行家的Dan 和他的妻子身兼数职以胜任监护人职责，并且花400个小时组织了一次一年一度的国际象棋营。 3. Deliberate practice 精心练习 Practice among the talented is never casual, it’s deliberate: goal-directed and beyond one’s comfort zone. 有才能的人的训练从来都不是随意的，它是精心刻意的坚守目标挑战自己。 State high school swim champion Caroline Thiel described her taxing practice routine this way: 州立高中游泳冠军Caroline Thiel用这种方式描述了她的艰苦练习： “Some days in practice you’re just so exhausted. You’re sore and your entire body aches, and it’s hard to find motivation. Your brain shuts down but your body keeps going through the muscle aches, heavy breathing and throwing up. People don’t realize how hard swimmers practice; they think we just jump in the pool and swim a few laps.” “在练习的某些日子里，你已经筋疲力尽了。你浑身酸痛身疲力尽失去动力。你的大脑已麻痹，但在疼痛的肌肉，沉重的呼吸和翻江倒海的呕吐中你的身体依然得奋力前行。人们没有意识到游泳运动员的训练有多么艰难， 他们以为我们只是跳进游泳池并游了几圈。“ Becoming a champion swimmer takes arduous practice. 成为冠军游泳选手有赖于艰苦的训练 4. Center of excellence 英才中心 When I asked Jayde Atkins, a national high school rodeo champion, why she is so talented, she said, “Look at all I have, I should be good.” Jayde was raised on a horse ranch in central Nebraska and began riding at age 2. 当我问全国高中牛仔竞技冠军Jayde Atkins为什么她如此才华横溢时，她说：“看看我所做过的一切，我理应这么好。”Jayde在内布拉斯加州中部的一个牧马场长大，两岁的时候开始马上生涯。 Her parents, Sonya and J.B., are riders and professional horse trainers who taught her the ropes and practiced with her for hours each day. The Atkins had well-bred horses and a big trailer to transport them to nearby towns for rodeo competitions. The family ranch was a self-made center of rodeo excellence. 她的父母Sonya和J.B.是骑手和专业的驯马师，他们每天陪她练习几个小时， 教她套牛。Atkins 一家拥有优质马匹和运送马匹到附近城镇进行牛仔竞技比赛的大拖车。家庭牧场是Atkins牛仔竞技的英才中心。 Most talented performers do not a have a center of excellence outside their back door. In those cases, they may travel to get to one. Consider three tennis players from Lincoln, Nebraska, my hometown. With their parents’ blessing and support, Jon and Joel Reckewey left home as teenagers and moved three hours away to Kansas where they trained at the prestigious Mike Wolf Tennis Academy. 大多数高手们没有家庭能提供的英才中心。在这种情况下，他们需要靠旅行来实现。来自我家乡内布拉斯加州林肯市的三名网球运动员便是如此。在父母的祝福和支持下，Jon和Joel Reckewey在青少年时期就搬到离家三个小时的堪萨斯州，在那里他们在著名的迈克沃尔夫网球学院接受训练。 Wimbledon and U.S. Open doubles champion Jack Sock traveled weekly to that same tennis academy as a boy before his entire family eventually relocated to Kansas. With parents’ support, budding stars often gravitate to centers of excellence, where top coaches and rising stars flock. 温布尔登网锦标赛和美国网球公开赛的双打冠军Jack Sock 从孩提起每周都去同一个网球学院训练， 直到他父母最终搬家到堪萨斯州。在父母的支持下，崭露头角的明星往往被那些顶级教练和新星们追求的英才中心所吸引。 5. Singleness of purpose 目标专一 Talented people display a singleness of purpose. 有才能的人会展示他们目标专一的特性。 One chess parent I interviewed told me, “The extraordinary time we put toward this one activity takes him out of a lot of fun and games.” Another parent said, “He’s not interested in school; he’s interested in chess. He just lives and breathes chess.” That same parent said, “We once took chess away (because of low school performance) and he was miserable. It was like yanking out the soul.” 我采访过的一位国际象棋父母告诉我，“我们为这项活动付出的额外时间让他失去了很多其他的乐趣和游戏。”另一位家长说：“他对学校不感兴趣;他对国际象棋很感兴趣。他与下棋呼吸与共。” 这些父母还说，”我们曾经因为他在学校表现不好而禁止他下棋，但他难过得如失魂落魄一样。“ When I asked chess parents why their children dedicate themselves to chess the way they do, they were unanimous about how much joy and satisfaction their children got from pursuing chess. 当我问国际象棋的父母们为什么他们的孩子会如此献身于国际象棋时，他们不约而同地谈到孩子在沉迷国际象棋过程中带给他们的乐趣和成就感。 Parents support this singleness of purpose. However, on occasion, they may find themselves supporting more than one passion. For instance, McKenzie Steiner is an all-state softball player and rising country music star. Her father, Scott, was McKenzie’s longtime softball coach, logging thousands of hours a year on the diamond and practicing pitching in the backyard, and also serving as her country band assembler, promoter and manager. 父母支持这样的目标专一。然而，有时他们可能会发现自己支持孩子们不止一种的追求。例如，McKenzie Steiner是一个全州最佳垒球运动员和锋芒渐露的乡村音乐明星。她的父亲Scott是McKenzie的长期垒球教练，他每年在垒球场进行数千小时的训练并在自家后院练习投球，而且还组建了乡村乐队， 担任乐队的推广人和经纪人。 Talent journey 人才之旅 Although stories of pushy parents abound, the parents I spoke with recognize that children must drive the talent train with passion and hard work and that parents can only help keep the train on track. They helped because they saw a need that only they could meet. They would no sooner ignore a talent need than a medical need. And, of course, they help because they love their children and want them to be fulfilled. 虽然虎妈虎爸的故事比比皆是，但我与之交谈的父母都认识到，孩子们必须以激情和勤奋驾驶天分的火车，父母能做的是帮助保持火车在正常轨道上运行。他们提供帮助是因为他们看到了只有他们才能提供帮助的需求。他们及时重视天才的需求，就像重视医疗需求一样。 当然，他们提供帮助是因为他们爱自己的孩子并希望他们能实现他们的理想。  |
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